Place

South America

Featured Items

Detail of hand colored, manuscript map shows rivers (outlined in green) and labels written in red ink. Near the large, red letters reading "Mor" there is a plantation notable for being labeled "Jews." Other plantations are labeled with surnames.

A discription of the coleny of Surranam in Guiana drawne in the year 1667

1667
Detail of a printed map shows text in Spanish reading "La Puna" and other labels over landmarks.

Carta de la Provincia de Quito y sus Adjacentes

Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville
1750
Detail of a colored manuscript chart shows a small cluster of homes and palm trees with text in English reading "Indian Village of Sancopana."

An actual survey of the River Orinoco from the great mouth up to the City of Angostura

1803
Book bound in white silk and decorated with the coat of arms of the Portuguese family and silver and gold beads.

Diario ecclesiastico para os Bispados do Rio de Janeiro, S. Paulo, e Marianna

1808
Detail from a printed book shows text in Spanish including "Ensayo" at the top of the page.

Semanario del Nuevo Reyno de Granada

Francisco Jose de Caldas
1808
The spine and back cover of Lettre d'une Peruvienne shows deteriorated calf binding.

Lettres d'une Peruvienne

Françoise de Graffigny
1748
Detail of an engraved map shows mountainous topography and text in Italian.

Descrittione di tutto il Peru

Paulo di Forlani
circa 1564-1572

Related

picture of Colombian Ambassador to the US with Cristina Soriano looking at book

JCB Brings Independence-era Materials to Residence of Colombian Ambassador in Washington, DC

September 11, 2019
Image from: Vue du Détroit de Tinquina. sur le Lac de Titicaca. Plateau des Andes. (Bolivia.) [Alcide Dessalines d'Orbigny 1844]. Original at the John Carter Brown Library.
Fellow's Talk

The Puquina Language in the Seventeenth-Century Andes

Black people work at a sugar mill with clouds and a palm tree outside

The Americas on Fire

19th century botanical guide by auguste de saint-hilaire

Plantes Usuelles des Brasiliens (Paris, 1824)

November 1, 2017
illustration of three large ships on water, people on river bank drag nets over the water

Entangled Histories of Empire and Science

October 12, 2017

See Also

Slavery and the Slave Trade

Pedagogical Materials